Facebook, Not Busy Enough, Buys Company Today Too

Facebook was apparently not distracted and not busy enough during its historic initial public offering. It bought a company today too.

Reuters

Is he superman?

The company is Karma, founded last year is a mobile gifting service. As in, a person can gift something from their mobile device to another’s mobile device.

As it’s homepage says it can be done instantly anywhere at anytime. Guess a historic IPO isn’t enough news for one day.

Dow Jones reporter John Letzing notes Karma has about 16 employees and was founded by Ben Lewis and Lee Linden. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The news was released on Karma’s blog a few minutes ago. Here’s the statement.

Karma is moving to Facebook: Why social gifting is about to get a lot more social

We founded Karma with the goal of adding the sentiment and meaning back into gift giving. That’s what Karma is all about. That’s what the Karma team set out to achieve.

Over the last year, we’ve built a new e-commerce platform from the ground up. We’ve been honored to partner with amazing brands to create a curated catalog of products. We made those products instantly giftable in a brand new way. And we harnessed the power of Facebook’s social network to ensure you never miss a chance to show someone you care. The phenomenal response and feedback we’ve heard from customers has more than exceeded our expectations. And we’re just getting started — today we take social gifting to the next level.

We’re thrilled to announce that Karma has been acquired by Facebook. The service that Karma provides will continue to operate in full force. By combining the incredible passion of our community with Facebook’s platform we can delight users in new and meaningful ways. As we say … only good things will follow.

Simply put, together we can celebrate life’s important moments in ways we could not before. A word of heartfelt thanks to our partners, customers, and our incredible team for helping us share Karma with so many people.

Comments (2 of 2)

Time to play with the monopoly money I guess. Karma sounds good on paper, but in reality, it is anything but useful. First, you have to buy an overpriced item from their catalogue. A $50 pint of ice cream or a $25 homemade candy bar are just two examples. Not novel at all. Second, if I’m going to spend that much on a gift, then they better be a close friend/family. No way I can afford to do ‘little’ events. Third, I have to pay shipping fees so the cost adds up pretty quick. And fourth, I can’t make this a group gift….have others chip in. The only social aspect is that the gifting is done through Facebook. Wow.

For the past few months, I’ve been using EventSmart (www.myeventsmart.com) which is really what social gifting should be. It’s free, the recipient can buy anything they want, and I can invite others to chip in. You can also contribute as little as $5 for anything. For example, recently a close friend’s son had several surgeries on a broken leg. I started a gift, chipped in some money and then invited some mutual friends who contributed as well. EventSmart collected the contributions and then let my friend’s son transfer the funds onto a gift card. He ended up buying some video games through Amazon. No fees. No overpriced items from a limited catalogue. Several people all contributed. I’m a believer!

Karma is good marketing with no substance. I’d never use their restrictive service for overpriced junk. Hope Facebook didn’t pay that much, but when it’s monopoly money, maybe it doesn’t matter.

4:46 pm May 18, 2012

HOWARD, NICHOLAS wrote :

Wow. What a day. I am so happy to be the proud owner of 1 share of Facebook! Go Zuckerburg!

Thanks for reading Deal Journal. We would like to direct you to MoneyBeat, the Wall Street Journal’s brand new global blog. MoneyBeat unites MarketBeat, The Source, Overheard and all the Deal Journal blogs, bringing together all the market, M&A, IPO and hedge-fund news from those blogs into a 24-hour hub for finance news. Check it out and let us know what you think at moneyblog@wsj.com.

About Deal Journal

Deal Journal is an up-to-the-minute take on the deals and deal makers that shape the landscape of Wall Street, including mergers and acquisitions, capital-raising, private equity and bankruptcy. In short, wherever money changes hands. Deal Journal is updated throughout each trading day with exclusive commentary, analysis, data, news flashes and profiles. The Wall Street Journal’s David Benoit is the lead writer, with contributions from other Journal reporters and editors. Send news items, comments and questions to deals@wsj.com.